J
Joseph_Gallant
Guest
It was a given that prime-time ratings for this year's Winter Olympics on NBC would be down compared to 2002 due in large part to the time difference between Italy and the United States, which prevents any live coverage in prime-time.
But many believed that NBC's prime-time coverage would still win (in both total audience and key demos) every half-hour during the course of the 17 days and nights of the Turin/Torino Games.
That will not be the case.
Last night (February 14th), according to this Zap 2 it.com article, Fox's "American Idol 5" handily beat the first hour (8-9 P.M. ET/PT) of NBC's prime-time Olympic coverage (much of which was devoted to the short program in men's figure-skating). "Idol" attracted 50% more viewers than the Olympics during the hour they went head-to-head. Even more telling, "Idol" attracted nearly three times the number of viewers between 18 and 49 than the Olympics.
Although the remaining two-and-a-half hours of NBC's prime-time Olympic coverage (9-11:30 P.M. ET/PT) topped the ratings chart, another troubling development for the Peacock was that "House", benefitting from the big "Idol" lead-in (and while second to the Olympics in overall viewers), nosed-out the Olympics in the adults 18-49 demographic.
Tonight (February 15th), there's another "Idol"/Olympic match-up. Tonight's "Idol" will be devotred to announcing the 24 semifinalists who will begin performing live for viewer votes.
Next week (February 20th-24th), it gets worse for NBC. It's the first of three weeks where "Idol" expands to three nights (the first group of semifinalists sing on Tuesday, the second group sings on Wednesday, and on Thursday, the announcement of who stays in and who is out). Furthermore, the "Idol" performance shows on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week will each be two hours long, with a one-hour results show on Thursday.
Yes, it is true that women's figure skating (which usually attracts the biggest TV audiences of the Winter Olympics) will be next week (the short program on Tuesday the 21st; the long program on Thursday the 23rd). But if Sunday's and especially last night's numbers are any indication, even women's figure skating may not be enough for NBC's Olympic coverage to win it's time period against Simon Cowell And Company.
But many believed that NBC's prime-time coverage would still win (in both total audience and key demos) every half-hour during the course of the 17 days and nights of the Turin/Torino Games.
That will not be the case.
Last night (February 14th), according to this Zap 2 it.com article, Fox's "American Idol 5" handily beat the first hour (8-9 P.M. ET/PT) of NBC's prime-time Olympic coverage (much of which was devoted to the short program in men's figure-skating). "Idol" attracted 50% more viewers than the Olympics during the hour they went head-to-head. Even more telling, "Idol" attracted nearly three times the number of viewers between 18 and 49 than the Olympics.
Although the remaining two-and-a-half hours of NBC's prime-time Olympic coverage (9-11:30 P.M. ET/PT) topped the ratings chart, another troubling development for the Peacock was that "House", benefitting from the big "Idol" lead-in (and while second to the Olympics in overall viewers), nosed-out the Olympics in the adults 18-49 demographic.
Tonight (February 15th), there's another "Idol"/Olympic match-up. Tonight's "Idol" will be devotred to announcing the 24 semifinalists who will begin performing live for viewer votes.
Next week (February 20th-24th), it gets worse for NBC. It's the first of three weeks where "Idol" expands to three nights (the first group of semifinalists sing on Tuesday, the second group sings on Wednesday, and on Thursday, the announcement of who stays in and who is out). Furthermore, the "Idol" performance shows on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week will each be two hours long, with a one-hour results show on Thursday.
Yes, it is true that women's figure skating (which usually attracts the biggest TV audiences of the Winter Olympics) will be next week (the short program on Tuesday the 21st; the long program on Thursday the 23rd). But if Sunday's and especially last night's numbers are any indication, even women's figure skating may not be enough for NBC's Olympic coverage to win it's time period against Simon Cowell And Company.